Northwest Business.

Esl Program Speaks To Needs Of Employers

NORTHWEST SUBURBS — As the U.S. workforce becomes more diverse, employers are challenged to find ways to make sure all of their employees are speaking the same language.

To help employers meet the challenge, Harper College in Palatine for seven years has been offering the Workforce English as a Second Language program to employers.

FOR THE RECORD - Additional material published Oct. 12, 1999:Corrections and clarifications.A Harper College breakfast on English as a Second Language Program in the Workplace will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday. An incorrect time appeared in some editions Monday. The story also misidentified Marti Rizman, Workforce ESL and basic skills manager for the college. The Tribune regrets the error.

During its most recent session, 35 area companies offered a total of 59 classes to improve the English skills of non-native English-speaking employees.

Marti Rizman, Workforce ESL and basic-skills manager for the college, said Harper offers 11 levels of classes. He said the classes are taught on-site and customized to meet employers' needs.

"We use their jargon, their buzzwords, their forms," Rizman said. "We sometimes offer classes as early as 4:30 in the morning to catch people as they are finishing or starting shifts."

Because classes are taught in English only, Rizman said the program can accommodate anyone regardless of ability or the language they speak.

The program helps employers reduce reliance on interpreters and boosts productivity, as well as employee satisfaction and retention, advocates say.

"Since beginning the program, we have been able to move 10 percent of our workforce into better positions within the company," Valvo said. "Plus we have been able to recoup $100,000 of project expenses through reductions in rework and paperwork error."

Valvo estimated that 70 to 80 of Superior's 100 employees in Elk Grove Village are primarily Spanish-speaking. Employees are offered the opportunity to take English classes on company time each week. Almost 60 percent of the non-English-speaking employees take advantage of the classes, Volvo said.

While Superior has been offering classes in English to employees since 1991, it began using the Workforce ESL program in 1996.

"With the other programs, we had nowhere near the results that we have had with Harper," Volvo said.

Harper College, in partnership with the Wheeling/Prospect Heights Chamber of Commerce, will offer a free breakfast seminar on the program from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Holy Family Medical Center, 201 E. Strong Ave., Wheeling. Call 847-541-0170.